Child removals from intellectually disabled parents 'inhumane'

Human rights advocates say intellectually disabled parents in Australia are having their children taken into state care at an alarming rate because of entrenched prejudice.

State governments say the safety of the child is paramount, while disability rights advocates say removals are wrong and inhumane.

Intellectually disabled parents make up just 1 per cent of the general parenting population, but they represent 10 per cent of parents who are before the courts in New South Wales fighting to have their children returned.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-23/calls-for-changes-to-child-removals-from-disabled-parents/4329772

Autism Links

Famous Autistic People

http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2008/09/famous-autistic-people.html 


Defining Autistic Lives

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/reviews/ckmontrubin0605.html


TMS Study Explores “Brain Plasticity”, Adaptation in Adults with Autism

http://catalyst.harvard.edu/pdf/hccrc/CRC_Newsletter_Issue_4.pdf


Morgan's Journey: My 16 year old son's journey through the criminal justice system, while living with Asperger's Syndrome

http://meredith-morgansstory.blogspot.com.au/

Islamic groups in Pakistan support Christian girl on blasphemy charge

ISLAMABAD: Islamic leaders in Pakistan have come out in support of a Christian girl with learning difficulties who is being held in prison, in an unprecedented public denunciation of the blasphemy law by hardline mullahs.

Rimsha, 11, whose family says she has Down syndrome, was charged this month with desecrating the Koran. The case has shocked the country's Christian population. Rimsha's own community, who were living in a poor Christian-Muslim enclave in Islamabad, were driven out of their homes by a crowd.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/islamic-groups-in-pakistan-support-christian-girl-on-blasphemy-charge-20120828-24yur.html

:( :( :(

Searching for honest answers - Canberra

Why did government agencies allow Jack Sullivan to be placed in a respite facility - where he later died - which they knew had a questionable history? SUE O'REILLY reports

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/searching-for-honest-answers-20120914-25xlf.html#ixzz26ZkqJeG3

Graeme Innes vs Railcorp NSW re missing announcements

ABC news story
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-10/missing-train-announcements-prompt-court-action/4191676


Ramp up piece by Graeme Innes
http://www.abc.net.au/rampup/articles/2012/08/13/3566313.htm

Disability Hate Crime

Disability Hate Crime video from Gloucestershire Police in the UK

Accessible Taxis? Not If Your Body Doesn’t Meet Australian Standards

Dear taxi industry, instead of demanding that our wheelchairs be modified to suit the needs of the taxi industry, why not take up your moral and legal responsibility and modify taxis to meet our needs writes the President of the Victorian Disability Services Board and disability campaigner, Tricia Malowney.

http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2012/07/accessible-taxis-not-if-your-body-doesn%E2%80%99t-meet-australian-standards#

Disability employment: Has the time arrived for mandatory reporting?

There are plenty of reasons to be wary of advocating mandatory reporting on employment targets that favour minority groups. For one, mandatory reporting spawns yet another regulatory regime. Another is that, as a form of affirmative action, it can often lead to real or perceived cases of unfairness and injustice. And a third: it tends to create waves of public cynicism, backlash and sometimes envy.

http://blog.ahri.com.au/?p=230

Devaluing People with Disabilities : Medical Procedures that Violate Civil Rights

http://www.ndrn.org/en/media/publications/483-devaluing-people-with-disabilities.html

Devaluing People with Disabilities: Medical Procedures that Violate Civil Rights is intended to provide a crucial but missing link in the discussion about how society can and should make medical decisions that uphold the constitutional rights and inherent dignity of people with disabilities.
by David Carlson, Cindy Smith, and Nachama Wilker

Tears of joy as Federal Government intervenes to allow British police officer Peter Threlfall into South Australia

THE Immigration Minister has ordered his department to allow British policeman Peter Threlfall and his family into Australia. Chris Bowen's intervention followed revelations in The Advertiser yesterday that the family had been denied visas because Mr Threlfall's 25-year-old step-daughter, Sarah, has autism. Mr Threlfall last night likened the backflip to winning the lottery.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/tears-of-joy-as-federal-government-intervenes-to-allow-british-police-officer-peter-threlfall-into-south-australia/story-e6frea83-1226394892643

Disability Hate Crime Poster

Easy to read disability hate crime poster from the UK

http://www.gmpa.gov.uk/d/Easy_read_disability_hate_crime_poster.pdf

Countering Harassment & Bullying Workshop coming up next week

Training Opportunity offered by the ACT Human Rights Commission
Countering Harassment & Bullying Workshop coming up next week on Thursday 8
March
Are you confident that you could deal with harassment and bullying if you
heard about it, saw it happening, or were experiencing it in the workplace?
Our workshop provides comprehensive and lively coverage of these critical
questions, and will:
* Increase your insight into how harassment and bullying can happen;
* Enable you to recognise behaviour that could be harassment and
bullying;
* Enhance your understanding of the impact of harassment and
bullying;
* Build your knowledge of how harassment and bullying is covered by
both the
Discrimination Act 1991, and ACT work safety law; and
* Provide strategies for dealing with, and preventing harassment and
bullying.
This workshop is interactive, and draws on real-life cases. It is open to
anyone interested in changing their workplace culture for the better,
whatever your role within your organisation.
Held from 9:30am - 1pm in civic, $200 or free for the community sector or
private individuals.
To register, go to http://www.hrc.act.gov.au/content.php/content.view/id/184
or ring Jennifer Bauer on 6205 2222 for more information.

Introduction to Discrimination Law Workshop next Tuesday 28 February

Introduction to Discrimination Law Workshop coming up next Tuesday 28 February

The Discrimination Act ensures that everyone in our community is treated fairly in public life, including in employment, education, access to premises, accommodation and the provision of goods and services.
Facilitated by ACT Human Rights Commission staff, this workshop will:
* Provide participants with a practical understanding of the purpose, scope and operation of the Discrimination Act 1991;
* Outline what constitutes unlawful discrimination in the ACT and the difference between direct and indirect discrimination;
* Highlight the exceptions you might need to know about discrimination;
* Discuss sexual harassment, vilification and victimisation;
* Discuss different types of liability and how this affects individuals and organisations;
* Examine various current discrimination cases and look at the discrimination issues arising from each case;
* Outline the role of the ACT Human Rights Commission and our complaints handling process.
* This workshop will engage participants in a range of ways and is pitched to employers, service providers and those who want to know more about their rights.

Held from 9:30am - 1pm in civic, $200 or free for the community sector and private individuals.
To register, go to http://www.hrc.act.gov.au/content.php/content.view/id/184 or ring Jennifer Bauer on 6205 2222 for more information.

2nd World Congress on Adult Guardianship - Melbourne 2012

Guardianship and the United Nations Disabilities Convention:
Australian and International Perspectives

Melbourne, Australia: 15-16 October 2012

Hilton on the Park Hotel, Melbourne

(with optional workshops on 17 October)

Bringing together Australian and International experts in the ageing, disability and guardianship fields, this congress will consider the effect of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on national and international guardianship laws and practices.

The congress will provide an opportunity to assess the impact of the Convention in reforming Australian and International guardianship laws and practices six years after its adoption by the UN General Assembly and four years after ratification by Australia.

http://agac2012.conorg.com.au/

Disability advocate wants law overhaul

Violence is ''scarily common'' in residential accommodation for people with disabilities and is systemically accepted, according to a disability advocacy group.
In a submission to the ACT government, Advocacy for Inclusion has called for an overhaul of domestic violence laws to provide greater security for people with disabilities, including those living in disability group homes or relying on paid or unpaid carers.
''People with disabilities live with daily violence. It seems to be systemically accepted, or staff are simply inured to it after years of having no alternative to violence,'' the submission said.

Advocacy for Inclusion general manager Christina Ryan said violence was extremely common in group homes for people with disabilities.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/disability-advocate-wants-law-overhaul-20120217-1tf2d.html

Concerns over sterilisation of girls with disabilities - transcript

MARK COLVIN: The Federal Disability Commissioner has written to state and territory governments expressing concern about the number of young women with disabilities who are being sterilised.

Graeme Innes says anecdotal evidence suggests that the number of procedures being carried out without court approval is actually rising.

Disability advocates say their members relate distressing tales of women finding out only years after the fact that they've been sterilised.

The Commissioner says sterilisation can only ever be justified when there are compelling medical reasons.

Barbara Miller reports.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3430739.htm

IVF doctor faces $10 million 'wrongful birth' case

This story leaves me speechless :(

DEBBIE and Lawrence Waller love their 11-year-old son, Keeden, but they believe he should never have been born.

Just days after Mrs Waller gave birth in August 2000 following IVF treatment, Keeden suffered a massive stroke that caused severe brain damage and meant he was never able to walk, talk or go to the toilet.

The stroke was the result of a rare blood clotting condition known as antithrombin deficiency which Keeden inherited from his father.

Tragically, the Wallers did not know there was a 50 per cent chance that Keeden would have the defective gene.

They are now suing the IVF specialist who oversaw Keeden's conception - Christopher James - in the NSW Supreme Court for what is known as ''wrongful birth'' and seeking compensation in the order of $10 million for the lifelong care of their handicapped son.

''We love Keeden now that he's here, but if we had the right information and the right options we wouldn't have gone ahead with the birth, not in the way we did,'' Mrs Waller said from her home in Kangaroo Valley yesterday.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/ivf-doctor-faces-10-million-wrongful-birth-case-20120131-1qrh3.html

Sheltered workshops - Oregon USA

"In a first-of-its-kind class-action case filed in federal court, the Oregon chapter of the Cerebral Palsy Association and eight individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities claimed that sheltered workshops violate protections against discrimination under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The suit charges that the workshops unnecessarily segregate the plaintiffs in work environments where they are paid less than minimum wage. The suit also claims that the workshops perpetuate a stereotype about the inability of people with disabilities to function in mainstream work environments."

http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19426:suit-sheltered-workshops-violate-rights-of-people-with-disabilities&catid=155:nonprofit-newswire&Itemid=986&utm_source=Nonprofit+Newswire&utm_campaign=ad228da6f4-Daily_Digest_5351_27_2012&utm_medium=email

Police Officer Charged (with assault) - Bendigo Vic

http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/crime-and-law/police-officer-charged/2054475.aspx

A MARYBOROUGH police officer has been charged with assault after a raid on an intellectually disabled man’s home last year.
The senior constable is facing eleven charges including multiple counts of intentionally causing serious injury, attempting to pervert the course of justice and perjury.
A second officer, also a senior constable at Maryborough, has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and perjury.
The Office of Police Integrity launched an investigation into the incident after claims the men seriously assaulted the victim in March last year.

Wheelchair passenger loses Jetstar case

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/wheelchair-passenger-loses-jetstar-case-20120113-1pys7.html